Techniques and exercises for increasing single-tonguing speed

[tbdana]

Hi all.

My single-tonguing speed is pretty pedestrian. And I admire guys like Andy Martin who can single tongue faster than some folks can double-tongue. So I'd like to increase my single-tonguing speed, but as I work on it I find that it gets heavier and heavier and I tire easily. I'm sure that's absolutely the wrong approach, and I don't want to keep practicing the wrong way.

So, what do you have that will get me practicing the right way, and will actually get my speed up? And I mean to be single-tonguing fast and light, not heavy and thick like when I push it now.

Thanks, and happy holidays!

[Wilco]

I had a very tricky mid low register single tonguing 16th solo at tempo 120. I to experienced quick fatigue. What helped me was keeping the tip of the tongue forward and focus on an up and down movement instead of back and forth. Maybe that helps for you???

[baileyman]

Here's an idea from Bob Sanders:

https://bobsanders.net/rain-birdreg-tonguing.html

[norbie2018]

Have you tried chaining? Take your favorite lick or exercise and set the metronome to your target tempo. Play the first note in time. Add the second, if in good time play the first, second, and third notes. Do this forward, starting in the middle, and from the end to the beginning. Your not playing the passage backwards, you're starting from the end, going backwards to select the next notes, then playing forward. A bass trombonist last name Sullivan details this technique and why it is the most efficient way to learn a fast passage.

[tbdana]

Have you tried chaining? Take your favorite lick or exercise and set the metronome to your target tempo. Play the first note in time. Add the second, if in good time play the first, second, and third notes. Do this forward, starting in the middle, and from the end to the beginning. Your not playing the passage backwards, you're starting from the end, going backwards to select the next notes, then playing forward. A bass trombonist last name Sullivan details this technique and why it is the most efficient way to learn a fast passage.

That sounds like an awesome way to learn a passage. What I'm trying to do is just to increase my overall single-tonguing speed in general. Does this work for something like that?

[norbie2018]

[norbie2018]

I imagine that by using this technique it would by default increase single tongue speed.

[trombonebob]

I think you're already there Dana. The tongue is just a valve to let the air out. A light touch and small movements are the key. I used to take exercises from the first section of Arban (e.g. ex36 from the dotted eighth and sixteenth note section). play them with just an air attack first and then introduce the lightest touch of the tongue. At first you don't need to go fast, once your tongue is moving lightly the speed can be upped. When I was in my prime I hardly ever had to double or triple tongue as my single tongueing was fast.
Sorry not wanting to teach you to suck eggs, I'm sure you already know this. This worked for me.

[tbonesullivan]

For me it was the Remington warmups. For years. Single tonguing on a line. Think about where the tongue hits on the roof of your mouth. How it is shaped when it does that. For fast tonguing I often use a slightly different tongue position with less "air" over it. I find that with a more streamlined air stream inside my mouth I can tongue faster.

I basically hated the feel / sound of double and triple tonguing so I forced myself to single tongue faster.

[imsevimse]

I have never been able ro single tounge fast enough until I came up with what works better for me. Now, what is fast? To me I was stuck on sixteenth notes at bpm 96, and that is real sick slow. I remember I asked my teacher about that and he said that sixteenth notes at bpm 132 was fast for him and a speed that would require him to double tounge. I tried my best with just putting the metronome at faster tempos like bpm 100 and with struggle I reached that goal but I couldn't go much faster. Then I experimented and changed my single tounge to a kind of double. Instead of ta-ta-ta-ta I began to tounge ta-da-ta-da. As a tool I counted this as double-tounge and noticed right away I could do this faster. To me the control was better and I could use it to go from real slow to fast with the same type of tounging. The tounge became more even and did not cramp. On the metronome I could suddenly play my sixteenth notes at the speed of bpm 120, and next what happend over time is the ta-da got more equal in feel and I can now no longer tell the difference when the tempo is fast. I do not feel limited anymore so don't really know what my speed limit is, but I think it is somewhere around bpm 120. I also can go from the ta-da to da-dl-da-dl and doodle too, something I couldn't do before either. I think it is at least 15 years ago I started to single tounge ta-da instead of ta-ta. Maybe other slow single toungers can benefit from this too. Let me know in case you are helped and if it works.

/Tom